Bouwinvest’s former Asia boss joins Scape Australia

Student accommodation specialist Scape Australia has tapped former Dutch real estate investor Bouwinvest’s Asia director Tjarko Edzes as chief capital officer, PERE has learned.

Based in Sydney, Edzes will be responsible for capital sourcing and investor relations globally, as well as executing real estate acquisition opportunities across Australia and Asia.

Stephen Gaitanos, co-founder and group chief executive officer at Scape, said in a release seen by PERE that Edzes’s extensive investment experience as a lead investor in the region’s residential-for-rent sector has positioned him well to “play a key leadership role” as the firm continues to expand in the country.

Prior to joining Scape, Edzes spent eight years as Bouwinvest’s director of Asia Pacific investments, moving to Sydney in 2018 to lead the setup of the firm’s first international office globally. During his tenure at Bouwinvest, he grew the investor’s real estate portfolio in Asia to around €2 billion with a main focus on logistics and residential sub-segments.

“Tjarko has been part of the Scape journey from the first days of external capital partnering with the Scape principals,” said Scape Australia’s co-founder and chairman, Craig Carracher. “We were fortunate to have Bouwinvest join us in our first development joint venture in Australia in 2015. It is a testament to the quality of the team attracted to Scape’s ambition to be the Earth’s best living company that, after many years of partnership, Tjarko is joining the Scape family as our chief capital officer.”

Established in 2013, Scape is the largest student accommodation owner-operator in Australia with over 16,000 bedrooms across 33 buildings in Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne operating under the brands Scape, Atira and Urbanest. The firm has invested over $3.9 billion in the Australian education and rental housing market over the past five years.

In 2016, Bouwinvest joined Dutch pension fund investor APG Asset Management to invest a combined A$150 million ($114 million; €97 million) in the platform. Apart from Bouwinvest and APG, Scape is also backed by some of the biggest real estate investors such as Allianz Real Estate and AXA IM – Real Assets.